FOCUS: Esthex Soft Toys

ESTHER SCHUIVENS (LEFT) IS just 30, and yet has a fully fledged family (3-year-old twins, Hannah and Moos), under her belt as well as her sweet and quirky handmade soft toys collection, Esthex.

The company sounds as unplanned and fortuitous as the arrival of her twins. In her last year of art school in Maastricht, The Netherlands, the Dutch art textiles student participated in a contest at Hema, a large department store, to design a soft toy. Esther didn’t win. But, “It was SO much fun to do,” she says from her Belgian home. More importantly, she sold some of the toys and discovered the selling bug: “I discovered I loved the idea of people buying your product and taking it home.”

Esther went back to the drawing board (her original design was a long-armed monster), and came up with the first Esthex dolls - pretty, endearing, kooky, infinitely original. A local shopkeeper loved them, and, encouraged, a few months later she had an order for 300, and had to seek out help from her current (and socially responsible) makers in Bangkok. “I’m not the best sewer at all,” she admits.

Since then, the Esthex collection has expanded to include her famous Cat - bizarrely it featured in Sex And The City, the movie - garlands, baby cubes (pictured below and in our shop), cot mobiles, Pyjama and storage bags (see very bottom), and a whole plethora of dolls - including a male super-hero/boyfriend doll, and the stunning Betty (above)….

LB: Where did your distinctive style come from?
ES: I guess it happens subconsciously but I do often hear that they look very Dutch - so I might be inspired by all the simple Dutch design around me. I love Dick Bruna (Miffy) and Fiep Westendorp’s creations.

LB: They’re a little ‘odd’. What made you realise children like ‘odd’ toys?
ES: I once had an interview, years ago, and I had just made my first cat. I was asked why she didn’t have any ears (she does now).
Til then I hadn’t realised she didn’t have any - I guess I just concentrate on form and colour and not on how things look in real life. And maybe that is the same thing a child does and is what makes them like each other.

LB: How do you handle working and family?
ES: The girls go to day-care two days a week and one day a week to one of our grandparents. It’s a nice balance for me, having time to spend with the girls and time to spend with the dolls.
We are very lucky to have our parents only 30 minutes drive away, which helps a lot when someone is ill!

LB: How did you feel about the Esthex cat featuring in Sex and the City?
ES: A friend of a friend sent me an email one night and I felt so excited about it!
But after the excitement of finding out I wasn’t sure if it could be seen well enough by everyone so I just decided to write a small comment on my website and leave it at that. But it’s very nice to receive emails from people who are surprised to see my cat while watching the movie at the theatre!

LB: What are your personal favourite creations? And your children’s?
ES: My favourites are probably Lola rabbit [pictured above and in our shop], Storm and Sofie and Naomie. Sofie was the first doll I ever made, and then I made her friend Naomie. Storm followed as her “super-hero-boyfriend”, and when I think about them stories pop up in my head that are not ready to be told just yet.
Hannah’s doll is Bea, Moos’ doll is Betty [top] and a few weeks ago they graduated to a new Esthex doll with hair! This is their “big girl” doll since they decided they are “big girls!”

LB: How do you decide to come up with new produce?
ES: Most ideas pop up just before I go to sleep. But also being surrounded by friends who have babies and children is very nice at the moment, and I get requests to add specific products to the collection.

LB: What’s your parenting style?
ES: I don’t really think about it - it all feels quite natural the way things are going. I like to play along with my children’s ideas, thoughts and imagination. We do have boundaries, but I love seeing them get lost in their own play!

LB: Where do you live and why?
ES: We live in a restored house in Belgium, just outside Maastricht.
It is over 100 years old and my husband and his colleague rebuilt it two years ago.
I feel very happy and lucky to live here. We have a big garden for the girls to play in and behind this garden we can hear the sheep, especially in Spring!